Secretary of War Pete Hegseth deployed the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to the Western Hemisphere to aid the military‘s effort to dismantle the drug cartels in Central and South America.

The Pentagon has deployed significant firepower to the region over the last couple of months amid a push to target drug cartels more aggressively. Since the start of last month, it’s believed that the military has carried out 10 strikes on alleged drug smuggling vessels, largely in the Caribbean Sea.